Originally Posted by mlts22

Once gas hits a certain threshold, I bet you will start seeing crime rats escalating, both crimes related to gas, such as puncturing gas tanks to siphon, and secondary crimes (muggings, carjackings, home invasions) start to pick up as well. There is a feedback loop here. Crime rates can overrun the justice system, causing DAs to offer plea bargains for what would be felonies in the first place, only encouraging more of it, when criminals realize there is less chance of getting caught. Of course, US prisons are insanely overcrowded, so giving a felon the time they deserve isn't going to happen, so they are out on the streets doing the same thing again.

Of course, because government services go up in cost... guess who gets their taxes jacked up? Usually the worst taxes that governments dish out are in recessions, which only make the situation worse, but its not like it matters to the politicians if businesses are forced out. This happened in Austin in the 1980s, where a lot of local businesses located near UT on the drag (Guadalupe) were forced out en masse, replaced by chain stores like The Gap, all due to one year where taxes went up by over 2-3 times in that one area.